Books to hold you over for the wait for Crimson Peak: atmospheric gothic and horror literature from the female perspective

gothiccharmschool:

annabellioncourt:

• The Seance by John Harwood. Intelligent and important female characters. Victorian cliches done incredibly well. A style that echoes Victorian writing without resorting to pure mimicry. Creepy and suspenseful style of writing and an ending that feels like letting out a deep breath you’ve held for far too long.
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. This is the most terrifying fiction novel I’ve ever read. Its a fairly old story by now: a group of strangers and a scientist try to look into a haunted house. This is THE haunted house story, I can’t think of any better supernatural haunted house novel (not hoax or supposed haunting with a rational ending) written before or after. Unless House of Leaves takes its place because I haven’t read that one yet
• The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter. The literary equivalent to pinot noir or extra dark chocolate. Decadent. Powerful. And if  the darkness of the universe had a taste, this is it. Incredible and poetic short stories of wicked retellings of fairy tales. 
• Rebbeca by Daphne du Maurier. A house that may not be haunted by a ghost (or is it?), but is certainly haunted by memory of a past tragedy. A cult classic that’s recently regained a growing audience, and the source material for the musical and Alfred Hitchcock film of the same title. This is Victoria Holt with teeth and claws and venom.

YES. Go read all of these.